


everything's looking peach

by brightsmoon



Series: dear, home. [7]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Crush at First Sight, F/F, F/M, Falling In Love, Farmer's Market, First Dates, M/M, Meet-Cute, Opeli and Fareeda are Great Wingwomen, Requited Love, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, raydiaweek2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 20:21:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20103073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightsmoon/pseuds/brightsmoon
Summary: Claudia searches for a familiar face in the crowd before she's caught and Rayla pays forward her kindness (and crush).RaydiaWeek2019 - Day Seven ; Free Space / Alternate Universe





	everything's looking peach

**Author's Note:**

> here we are! the last day of raydiaweek2019!!! god, i'll miss this :( but the ending isn't always sad.
> 
> title ; [peach](https://genius.com/Broods-peach-lyrics) by broods

Although she's weighed down by two crates of peaches, warm from the summer sun and ready to bust with juices with the wrong move, Claudia cautiously moves them to one arm to wave. "Good morning!"

Opeli looks up, her face splitting into a smile. Next to her, her wife waves, pen tucked behind the curtain of red hair she's managed to wrangle into a braid that's already heavy with the heat.

"Hi Claudia! Need any help?"

With a huff, she sets down the two crates on her table, shaking her head.

"Those are the last ones," she says, out of breath, pushing the ends of her hair out of her mouth. "But thanks. How's it been?"

Opeli shrugs as Fareeda scribbles something on a jar of golden liquid. "Same old, same old. We got a new queen though! Hopefully she'll help rebuild the colony we lost last winter."

"We missed you," Fareeda says and sets down the jar to come around the table and hug Claudia. With a grin, Claudia hugs back - the farmer's market doesn't open for another twenty minutes, she knows she has time to linger talking to her neighbors before she has to finish setting up her stand.

_Evenere Apiary and Honey_ is a business Claudia knows both women have put their hearts into. Opeli had co-founded _Katolis Bakery_ alongside her sister and her husband before leaving after meeting Fareeda.

The rest had been history.

Fareeda steps back, holding her at arm's length and sweeping her gaze up and down the younger woman. "You cut your hair," she smiles, hand coming up to touch the much shorter ends. "I like it. Very summery."

"Thanks," Claudia laughs, tugging at one of the strands. "Thought I needed a new look."

Behind the table, Opeli smirks at her.

"I know someone who'll appreciate the new look."

Both Fareeda and Opeli disintegrate into giggles and Claudia flushes from her roots downward. She stutters for a moment before looking away but she knows she's biting her lip only to stop herself from smiling.

Two months ago, a new shop had moved into the Xadia Farmer's Market. It had been a gloomier Saturday morning when right across from Claudia's produce stand, a pick-up truck had backed into the empty stand and unloaded leather and smithy goods.

With it had brought Runaan and Tinker, two husbands. Following not far behind, once the farmer's market had opened, was their daughter.

Claudia blushes harder just thinking about Rayla - they've barely said two words to each other but it seems every Saturday morning until the afternoon since, their gazes have been magnetized to the other's. Even separated by ten feet of grass walk and countless customers walking around every weekend, there's always a tug in Claudia's chest, like a red string tied around her heart.

"Keep that up and she'll overheat before Rayla even gets here," Fareeda warns, waggling a finger at her wife and steering Claudia back towards her stand. "Don't listen to her, darling, I'm sure Rayla will adore it."

"You think?"

Fareeda comes to a halt underneath the tent above Claudia's table and bends to inspect one of the peaches on top. "I know. Women dig chicks with short hair."

Claudia snorts as she starts sorting out the produce she's hauled from her Volkwagen. "And you're the expert on that?"

"Tried and true," the redhead boasts, picking a piece of dirt off a zucchini. "I had short hair when I met Opeli and the rest was history."

From the stall over, the woman in question snorts. "Don't forget the leather jacket."

Fareeda snaps her fingers. "Yes! And that."

Nodding, lips screwed together, Claudia pretends to scribble something on her hand.

"Short hair, leather jacket. Got it. Anything else?"

Laughing, Fareeda shoves at her shoulder and Claudia chuckles, moving away from the older woman to make sure the little wooden signs that stick out of every crate are upright. Somewhere between that and touching up the chalk on the sign boasting _Produce - So Good It's Magical! _Fareeda begins to hum something under her breath that's cut off by the sound of a truck backing up.

Claudia whips around, almost losing her balance from where she's crouched on the ground to watch as the familiar beat-up navy truck backs into place. The doors creak open and slam shut and she flutters her fingers at the two men in greeting, who smile and wave back.

In her chest, her heart beats wildly as she searches for Rayla - usually the woman is here every Saturday, helping to unpack and wrap the leather goods once they're bought. Where is she?

"Looking for someone?"

This time, Claudia really _does _lose her balance.

She looks up into the face of a woman she's only ever seen from ten feet away and determines that yes, Rayla is cuter up close. Haloed by the early-morning sun, Claudia can see how her platinum blonde hair seems to glow, freckles standing out against her pale skin.

When Rayla holds out her hand, Claudia stares dumbly at it for a moment before taking it.

As she's pulled to her feet, Claudia dimly registers how soft Rayla's hands are. She would've expected them to be tough from working with leathers but they're smooth.

She resists the urge to touch them to her cheeks out of pure curiosity.

Claudia can feel Opeli and Fareeda staring her down, biting back their laughter as she stands barely six inches from the woman she's been admiring from afar. She blocks them out, shaking hands brushing at her dirt-free pants.

"N-no, I wasn't, just saying hello." Her traitorous voice shakes and she curses herself internally - now is _not _the time for voice cracks.

Rayla's smile is small and knowing. "If you say so. May I-?"

"Yes," Claudia says immediately before her mind catches up with her mouth and she frowns. "May you what?"

"Look at what you've got," the woman says with an expression that says _duh, what else would I be asking? _Claudia tucks away the fact that she's blushing too, though, flush working across her pale cheeks. "I've never visited your stand and figured now would be a good time before the market opens but if you're busy-"

"No, no, no," Claudia stumbles over herself, hands waving in front of her, "no, that's fine! I'm-I'm not busy."

Rayla tucks a braid at the front of her hair behind her ear and smiles. "Thanks."

For a moment, all Claudia can do is blink and she turns on her heel to see Rayla bent over the peaches, inspecting them as if they're a Monet painting. Scared of being caught that her eyes linger, Claudia rips them away to see Fareeda shoot her a thumbs-up and Opeli makes a _shoo_-ing motion with her hands.

She sneers silently at them and swallows the urge to grin when she turns back to Rayla. Claudia slips behind the table again and busies herself with stacking empty crates at the back of the tent so she doesn't let her eyes wander to how Rayla picks up a peach.

"Do you mind?"

Claudia looks up to find Rayla grinning, fruit in hand, holding out two dollars. She shakes her head. "Go ahead, it's on the house."

Rayla frowns. "Oh - thank you, Claudia. Are you sure?"

"Yep," Claudia gulps as Rayla bites through the skin. Juice runs down her chin and she rips her eyes away.

"Let me pay you back."

"What?"

Claudia looks up as Rayla grins. "Let me make it up to you. Meet me at my stand after you're done packing up, okay? I hope you like ice cream."

"I love ice cream," Claudia smiles back and Rayla tosses the peach in the air before catching it.

"See you then."

"Yeah," Claudia murmurs. "See you."


End file.
